Feeding glass sheets from the forming machine to the leers



Jul 24, 1934. L. VON REIS 1,957,633

FEEDING GLASS SHEETS FROM THE FORMING MACHINE TO THE LEERS Filed Nov.20, 1929 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 41 OOOOOOOOOOOGGOO. 0 u 0 0'0 0W0 0 00000. 0of. 0 0 0'. .0000 0'0 0 00 0 0'0 Q'e -11 L. VON REIS July 24, 1934.

FEEDING GLASS SHEETS FROM THE FORMING MACHINE TO THE LEERS Filed Nov.20, 1929 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 ooo July 24, 1934. VON 515 I 1,967,638

FEEDING GLASS SHEETS FROM THE FORMING MACHINE TO THE LEERS Filed Nov.20, 1929 4 Sheets-She t 5 lmxmlmzmlm-uml mlmmn'lmxm B ZZ-(Hlllllll|||||||m27 L. VON REIS 1,967,638

FEEDING GLASS SHEETS FROM THE FORMING MACHINE TO THE LEERS July 24,1934.

Filed Nov. 20, 1929 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 n H I o jwow efiowo Zinnia).-

Patented July 24, 1934 UNITED STATES FEEDING GLASS SHEETS FROM THE FORING MACHINE TO THE LEERS Lambert von Reis, Herzogenrath, Germany, as-

srgnor, by mesne assignments, to The American Bicheroux Company, acorporation of Delaware Application November 20, 1929, Serial No.408,615

In Germany August 8, 1929 Claims.

This invention relates to plants for the manufacture of glass sheets inwhich a plurality of leers are arranged side by side alongside the sheetfeeding path which proceeds from the forming 5 machine and from whichthe sheets are introduced laterally into the leers. In plants of thiskind the feeding of the 'sheets from-the machine to the leers hashitherto been performed by means of travelling transporting tables.

Now, the invention has for its object to effect the feeding of thesheets in plants of the kind stated by means of a roller conveyer, onwhich the sheets are moved ahead during their formation at a speedcorresponding to the speed of sheet formation and thereafter at anincreased speed until they reach one or the other of the leers intowhich they are to be introduced. This increased feeding speed is appliedto avoid cracking of the glass sheets by too strong or too rapid coolingof the glass sheets, which is otherwise liable to occur when feeding thesheets throughout the comparatively long distance from the formingmachine to the leers at the speed of sheet formation or at a lower speedeven.

The invention further contemplates imparting to the sheets, when theyhave arrived before the leers and they are not yet sufficiently stifffor being shifted into the leers, a reciprocating movement until therequired stiffness is attained.

In order to allow of the invention to be more clearly understood, itwill now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings inwhich several devices constructed in accordance with the invention areillustrated.

Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic side view and Fig. 2 a plan view of a sheetglass making and annealing device. Figs. 3 and 4 are similar views ofanother embodiment; Fig. 5 is an enlarged plan view, partly in section,of a portion of the high speed drive of the device shown in Figs. 3 and4; Fig.

6 is a section on the line 6-6 of Fig. 5; Fig. 7 is a diagrammatic sideview of still another embodiment; Fig. .8 is a side view of a portion ofthe same on an enlarged scale and Fig. 9 is a detail sectional view onthe same scale.

In the several figures, 10 designates a multiroll rolling machine onwhich the glass sheets are formed from a mass of liquid glass dischargedinto the machine from glass melting pots or in any other suitable way.11 is a roller conveyer designed to take off the glass sheets from themachine and feed them to the s'towing openings 12 of the leers 12, ofwhich two or more are arranged side by side laterally of the rollerconveyer 11. A cutting device, arranged as at 13,

called receiving section, are driven at the speed of sheet formation bya common longitudinal shaft 14 through the intermediary of pairs ofbevel gears 15. The shaft 14 is preferably operated from the rollingmachine 10 itself. All other rollers of the following section B of theconveyor 11 are driven from another longitudinal shaft 16 at aperipheral speed which is higher than the linear speed of sheetformation. This shaft 16 is driven from a motor 1'7 or any other'sourceof power. The rollers of the sections B situated between the section Aand the opening of the first leer 12' and between the openings of theseveral leers 12', 12", 12" are driven directly from the shaft 16through pairs of bevel gears 18, while the rollersof the sections Bsituated in front of the leer openings are driven through pairs of bevelgears 19 from counter-shafts 20, which are adapt.-

glass band emerging from the machine is divided. During the formation ofthe glass band and its reception by the conveyer section A the rollersof the same rotate with the speed of sheet formation. As soon as theband has advanced on the conveyer for the desired distance, the firstsheet is cut off at 13. This sheet continues to advance with the speedof sheet formation and moves on to the section B the rollers of whichare driven at a higher speed. As soon as the sheet covers the section Bby about half its length, the higher speed of this section becomeseffective on the sheet, which is then moved quickly at this speed to theleer 12" which is most remote from the machine 10, this being in Fig. 1the third leer from the left hand. When the sheet has come in front ofthis leer the corresponding roller section B is stopped by disconnectingthe respective countershaft 20 from 5 the main shaft 16, so that thesheet can be introduced into the leer. In the meantime, the second andthe third sheets which immediately follow the first sheet are fed to andintroduced into the second and first leers 12" and 12' in the 11 samemanner. In order to prevent the rollers of the high speed section B fromexerting a stretching action on the sheets when they are passing fromsection A to section B, it is advisable to provide between the wheels 15and the shafts of the rollers of section A one-way clutch devices,similar to those shown in Fig. 6, which are only operative in thedirection of feed and which, when the higher speed of section B becomeseffective on the sheets, permit the rollers of section A to rotate idlywith the high speed under the action of the rapidly advancing sheets.

In the device according to Figs. 3, 4 and 6, the rollers of the firstconveyer section A are also positively driven at the speed of sheetformation through a longitudinal shaft 14, which has rotation impartedto it by the rolling machine 10 andwhich transmits its rotation to therollers of section A through bevel gears 15. The bevel gears mounted onthe shafts of the rollers of section A act on these rollers through aratchet and pawl mechanism of the kind shown in Fig. 6, which forms aone-way clutch. When the rollers of section A are driven by anotherdrive at a speed which is higher than the speed of sheet formation, thepawls of the clutch devices slip on the ratchet wheels and the drive 14,15 is thereby rendered inoperative. In addition to the drive 14, 15there are provided for all rollers of the roller conveyer 11 drivesthrough which the rollers can be driven at a speed higher than the speedof sheet formation, the number of these high speed drives correspondingto the number of leers arranged in the plant. Each of these high speeddrives extends from the rolling machine up to a point beyond the righthand end of the front wall of each leer. Figs. 3 and 4 show, forinstance, two leers 12 and 12". One of the high speed drives occupiesthe section B and the other the section b. As the two drives are ofsimilar construction, it will be sufficient to describe one of them. Thesection B may be supposed to be divided into two subsections B and B Allrollers-0f the section B carry sprocket wheels 22. The sprocket wheelsof the sub-section B are loose on the roller shafts. They carry pawls23, as shown in Figs. 5 and 6, by means of which they engage ratchetwheels 24 which are keyed on the roller shafts. The sprocket wheels 22of the sub-section B this being the section situated in front of thesecond leer 12", are rigidly fastened on the respective rollers. Theroller shafts carry at each side of the sprocket wheel 22 a loose ropesheave 25 of the same operative diameter as the sprocket wheel. Theserope sheaves can be dispensed with on the sub-section B Running aboutall rollers of the section B is an endless driving element, of which onehalf consists of a chain 26 and the other half of a pair of ropes 27.The chain 26 drives the sprocket wheels 22, while the ropes 27 areguided on the loose sheaves 25. The endless driving elements 26, 27 havemotion imparted to them through a motor 28.

On the section b (b -H2 which extends from the rolling machine up to apoint beyond the first leer 12', the rollers are provided with aseparate similar drive, comprising the sprocket wheels 22, the ropesheaves 25', the endless driving element consisting of chain and ropesand the motor 28. The motors 28 and 28 are designed to impart to therollers 11 a peripheral speed higher than the speed of sheet formation.

The operation of the device shown in Figs. 3 to 6 is as follows: At'thebeginning of the rolling operation the endless driving element for thesection B is adjusted so that the rear end of the chain 26, that is tosay the connection between the chain 26 and the ropes 2'7, lies near therolling machine 10 in juxtaposition to the place of cutting 13. Duringthe formation of the band of glass on the rolling machine the rollers ofthe section A are rotated through the drive 14, 15 with the speed ofsheet formation. When'the band has moved on the section A the desireddistance, the first sheet is cut off at 13. At the same time, the motor28 is started, whereby the chain 26 is caused to drive all sprocketwheels 22 with the desired increased speed and the sheet is advanced atthis speed until it comes in front of the second leer 12", theconnection between chain 26 and ropes 27 moving constantly in alignmentwith the rear end of the glass sheet. When the glass sheet lies in frontof the second leer and has the stiffness required for pushing it intothe leer, the motor 28 is stopped and the sheet stowed into the leer 12"through its opening 12 If the sheet does not yet possess the requiredstiffness, the sheet has imparted to it before the leer alongitudinalreciprocating movement by reversing the motor 28, until it is'sufliciently rigid. For allowing this reciprocating movement byalternate'rotation of the rollers of section B in opposite directions,the sprocket wheels 22 of the respective section are rigidly fastened onthe roller shafts. The motor 28 also permits to bring the glass sheetinto accurate alignment with the stowing opening of the leer. As soon asthe sheet during its forward movement at high speed passes by its rearend beyond a roller of the section A, the action of the chain 26 on thesprocket wheel 22 of the respective roller ceases, because the end ofthe chain moves always in coincidence with the rear sheet end. The ropes27 following behind the chain end run on the rope sheaves 25 of therespective.

roller, but do not exert any driving action on the roller because thesheaves are idle. Therefore the I drive 14, 15 will again becomeoperative on the said roller and drive it with the speed of sheetformation. It will thus be understood that, as the glass sheet advancingwith high speed has passed beyond a roller of section A, the high speedof such roller is automatically changed to the speed of sheet formation.The second sheet following the first sheet can therefore be received bysection A without any difliculty. In the meantime, the rear end of thechain of the endless drivin element for the drive of section b has beenbrought into transverse alignment with the cutting device 13. As soon asthe glass band which continues to emerge from the machine 10 has againadvanced on the section A the desired distance, the second sheet is cutoff and fed with the aid of the drive of section b to the first leer 12'in the same manner as the first sheet has been moved to the second leer12". Thethird sheet is fed to leer 12", the fourth sheet to leer 12',the fifth sheet to leer 12", and so on. The return of the chain 26 toits initial position after the stowing of the first, third, fifth sheetetc. does not interfere with the drive of section b, because thesprocket wheels 22 of sub-section B which corresponds in position andlength with section b, can rotate idly opposite to the direction offeed. On the other hand, the chain 26 has no influence on the drive ofsection B.

In the form of device shown in Figs. 7, 8 and 9 the roller conveyer 1.1,except-for its first or receiving section which is stationary, consistsof a plurality of successively arranged endless roller bands 35*, 35 and35, each of which occupies a section in front of the several leers 12',12" and 12". The journals of the rollers of each roller belt carry loosewheels 29, by means of which they are guided and supported on rails 30.The journals are interconnected by chain links so as to unite them toendless bands.

On the side remote from the leers, the roller journals of the endlessbands have fixed on them two pinions 32 and 33, with which rack bars32', 32 and 33 33 arranged above and below the pinions, respectively,can be placed into engagement. The rack bars are adapted to be raisedand lowered and each two of them are associated with one of the pinions.The pinion 32 has the same and the pinion 33 a much smaller diameterthan the roller 11. The roller bands 35, 35 and 35 are preferably drivenin unison in such amanner that their upper stretch moves with constantspeed in the direction at, that is to say in the direction of feed ofthe glass sheets. The endless bands. are preferably moved with half thespeed. of sheet formation. When the rack bar 32 is placed intoengagement with the pinions 32, the speed of movement of the glass sheetin the direction of feed is as high as the speed of sheet formation asit corresponds to the sum of the linear speed of the roller band,whichis half the speed of sheet formation, and the peripheral speed ofthe rollers themselves, which is also half the speed of sheet formation.When the rack bar 32 is engaged with the pinions 32, the relative speedof the sheet isequal to nought, that is to say the sheet is at astandstill and can be stowed into the leer.

When the rack bar 33 is engaged with the pinions 33 the sheets are movedahead with the desired increased speed, which may for instance.

be double as high as the speed of sheet formation.

When throwing in the rack bar 33", a retrograde a suflicient distance onthe first roller band 35',

with which the rack bar 32' is at that time in engagement, the bar 32 isthrown out and the rack bars 33, of all three endless bands are throwninto operative position, whereby the sheet is caused to move with thedesired high speed until it comes before the last leer 12'. When in thisposition, the rack, bar 33' of the last roller band 35 is moved toinoperative position and the rack bar 32 into operative position,whereby the movement of the sheet is stopped. a The sheet can beimmediately stowed if it has the required stiffness. If, however, it isnot yet willciently stifl', it is allowed to remain on the roller band35 until the prescribed rigidity is attained. In this position no dangerexists for the glass sheet to sag between the rollers of the band,because these rollers continue to move forward with half the speed ofsheet formation so that they I support the sheet at constantly changingpoints.

The described play is repeated in a similar manner infeeding the secondand third sheets to the intermediate leer 12" and the forward leer 12'.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:-

1. In a sheet glass conveyor, the combination with a series oftravelling rollers, each roller having a plurality of wheels thereon, ofa plurality of stationary members, each engageable, at will, with one ofthe wheels for rotating the latter on the travel of the rollers.

2. In a sheet glass conveyor, the combination with a series oftravelling rollers, of wheels attached to the rollers, and stationarybars engageable, at will, with opposite sides of the wheels for rotatingthe rollers on the travel thereof.

3. In a device of the character described, the combination of a rollerconveyor receiving glass sheets, said conveyor comprising a series ofrollers driven at a constant speed and a series of rollers mounted tomove in a closed path, means for driving the last-named rollers in theirpath at a uniform speed in the direction of the feed of the sheets, andmeans for rotating, at will, the Iastmamed rollers at variable speeds.

4. In a device of the character described, the combination of a rollerconveyor receiving glass sheets, said conveyor comprising a seriesofrollers loo ' driven at substantially the speed of sheet formation,and a series of rollers mounted to-travel in a closed path, means fordriving the last-named rollers in their path in the direction of thefeed of the sheetsat a uniform speed, and means for rotating, at will,the last-named rollers in 012- posite directions and for arresting theirrotation.

5. In a device of the character described, the combination of a rollerconveyor receiving sheets of glass, said conveyor comprising a series ofrollers driven at substantially the speed of sheet reception, and aplurality of series of travelling rollers, each of such series moving inits own closed path, means for driving the several series of travellingrollers in their respective paths, and means for rotating the rollers ofthe individual travelling sections at speeds variable, at will. betweenthe travelling sections.

narmm'r von ms.

